Today January 9, 2026, 12:12 AM
Today January 9, 2026, 12:12 AM
Paradise Lake and jockey Juan Hernandez held on in a three-way photo finish in the Robert J. Frankel Stakes to score the 5-year-old mare’s first stakes win as Santa Anita resumed racing Thursday.
Paradise Lake paid $9 in the $100,000, Grade III race for fillies and mares on turf, becoming the second stakes winner of the young Santa Anita meet for trainer Peter Eurton, whose Gas Me Up scored a $28.20 win in the Grade II Joe Hernandez on Monday.
“She’s kind of special, because she’s no bigger than a greyhound,” Eurton said in a TV interview in the winner’s circle.
Starry Night and Watchtower finished a close second and third. Odds-on favorite Public Assembly, with Umberto Rispoli replacing injured Antonio Fresu, dropped farther back than usual and rallied late for fifth.
Earlier in the day, Stark Contrast ($2.60) and jockey Kazushi Kimura passed 17-1 Brigante and Emisael Jaramillo at the top of the stretch and won the $100,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf, giving trainer Michael McCarthy his 500th victory.
Thursday was an added day of racing at Santa Anita to make up for a series of rainouts the past two weeks. The track hadn’t held racing since Jan. 2 after canceling Saturday’s and Sunday’s cards.
